“My partner Chris, his son Ed, and I discovered this dish when we went on an Exodus family adventure to Portugal last year. We were staying in Vilanova de Milfontes and I was a bit nervous that a 12-year-old wouldn’t like the food. He soon proved me wrong by trying everything we ordered! One night we discovered this dish on the menu of a local restaurant. Ed surprised me by saying it was his favorite dish, so on our last night we just had to go back and order it again,” says Exodus staff member Gina Eckersley.
Serves 4 | Preparation time 30 minutes (plus marinating) | Cooking time 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 225ml dry white wine
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 1tsp paprika
- Salt and pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 900g loin of pork, trimmed of fat and cut into 2.5cm pieces
- Oil, for frying
- 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1tsp tomato purée
- 4 medium potatoes, peeled, cut into 2.5cm chunks and boiled until just tender
- 700g clams in their shells
- 4tbsp chopped parsley
Method
Mix together the white wine, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper and bay leaves in a large bowl.
Add the pork, turning the pieces over until coated. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in the fridge to marinate for 6 hours or overnight.
Lift the pork from the marinade. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan and fry the pork in batches until browned on all sides, removing one batch from the pan before adding the next.
Strain the marinade into the pan and return all the pork to it. Cover the pan and simmer for about 1 hour or until the meat is very tender and the cooking liquid has reduced a little.
When the pork is almost cooked, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan, add the potatoes and fry until golden brown.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a third large pan, add the onion and fry until softened. Stir in the tomato purée and add a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquid from the pork.
Add the clams, cover the pan, and cook over low heat for a few minutes until all the clam shells have opened. Discard any that stay tightly closed.
Drain the potatoes and add to the pork. Serve the pork and potatoes with the clams spooned on top, sprinkled with chopped parsley.